A sunny day yesterday in Forfar, but it clouded over a bit in the second half, and a swirling wind around Station Park never let either set of players relax.
With yet another set of injuries and suspensions to contend with, Tweed sent out just about the only team he could have. As predicted, Coutts replaced McNeil in goal, but so dire is our injury situation and so thin is the first team squad, that McNeil was named as the sub keeper. Warming up before hand, it was still pretty obvious that McNeil couldn't kick a dead ball very far. Tosh and Stevie Nicholas started up front, with the youngsters, Boyle and "Elvis" Pressly returning to the bench. The boys, playing all in white, lined up: Coutts, McNally, Sinclair, Hegarty, Tweed, Maitland, Milligan, Davidson, Tosh, Nicholas, Nicol.
We played with the wind in the first half, and came close on a couple of occasions. Hegarty rattled the bar with a corner, as Forfar goalkeeper McLean flapped horribly. We managed four or five corners in a row, but the final ball just wouldn't fall for us. There was some good approach play, Tosh also shot just wide, but we had little to show for our efforts with the wind at our backs.
Things took a decisive turn for the worse immediately after the re-start. Forfar won a corner, which was swung in. Coutts and Tweed both rose to clear it, but, the ball, oddly, seemed to get caught between the two. It fell to the ground, and Templeman lashed home from three centimetres. This was a poor start, and seemed much worse when it became pretty obvious that, going forward, we possessed all the attacking menace of a three-legged ant-eater.
The referee was our old "friend", the barely-old-enough-to-shave Mr. Beaton. With the clock winding down on a remarkably tedious game, "Scooby" Davidson burst into the box, and was tripped right in front of us. In the parallel universe inhabited by Mr. Beaton, Scooby dived and was given a yellow card. The official was clearly taken aback by the ferocious abuse he received as a result of that clearly mistaken decision, and he backed away sharpish from the fans who'd rushed, roaring, to the advertising hoardings, like volcanic lava tumbling down a mountainside.
Stevie Nicholas, in the one contribution he made in an otherwise anonymous showing in the no. 10 shirt, received the ball in from the enclosure touchline, about thirty yards from goal. He dinked an excellent left foot flighted pass straight into the path of the onrushing "Tosher", who'd craftily stayed onside- all but in the eyes of the linesman. On planet Beaton, Tosh was offside, resulting in a Forfar free kick, when in fact he was clearly onside, and looked good to level the scores.
Still, we can't blame the officials this time, however sub-standard they were in the second half. Collier and Boyle were brought on in the last twenty minutes, far too late to decisively affect the course of the game. To add a dusting of coarse rock salt into the open wound of our performance, "Foxy" Fotheringham scored with a beautifully struck raking drive which beat Coutts all ends up, from the edge of the penalty area, in the last moments of the game.
Forfar will see this game as a routine win as they begin to prepare for the play-offs. For us, it was a limp, feeble surrender of our proud record at this venue and that's what disappointed so many of our travelling fans yesterday.
The current coaching arrangement is not working. Tweed is fully involved in events on the park, but it doesn't seem like Moffat has the authority to introduce subs on his own. As a result, the subs have to wait for minutes on end before Tweed gives Moffat the signal to get them on. In yesterday's game, when the first team selection clearly wasn't working out, we were crying out for fast and bold substitutions, and that didn't happen, to our cost.
Too many of our players were just poor yesterday. In particular, Stevie Nicholas looked less than impressed by some of the withering assessments by some fans of his "performance". He once again looked pretty disinterested yesterday, backing away from several 50-50 challenges and failing to make himself available when we were going forward. I don't see what's to be gained by fielding him ahead of Boyle, who, sure, may make mistakes through lack of experience, but needs the game time.
Stevie Nic can be a quality player when motivated, as I've said all season, and he's an exciting talent as he's shown at many previous clubs. However, it seems like he's not bothered any more, and is just seeing out the season; that's not good enough. It's the SOS money that we all donated, that pays his wages, and, at the moment, we're not getting a good return for our investment.
In the longer term, we really need to concentrate on the squad members we need for next season, and add to them with some *proper* replacements in the close season- not just whoever's available. Despite yesterday, I still feel there is the core of a good squad in the current group of players, we just need more experience and strength in depth to challenge again. How that agenda is developed over the summer will determine not only the future of our club, but manager Tweed's future in the first few games of 2010-11.
I can't wait for this truly godawful season to be done with. Indeed, next Saturday's home game with the Franchise may be my last. Unless there's something to play for on May 1st, I can't see myself being arsed with the last game of the season up in Elgin.
Crowd: about 450, between 80-100 making the journey from Montrose, and leaving sorely disappointed at the end of our long unbeaten run at Station Park.
Man of the Match: I'm going for McNally again, for another steady shift at the back. Hegarty had a good game, and James Collier brought some much needed energy and effort to the performance, when he came on.
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